Stopper for vacuum bottles



Jan. 3, 1956 A. MOELLER STOPPER FOR VACUUM BOTTLES Filed Sept. 19, 1952 T TOR NEYS z a H 1 INVENTOR AXEL MOELLER wkrwnw United States Patent STOPPER FOR VACUUM BOTTLES Axel Moeller, Racine, Wis., assignor to Moeller Mfg. Co., Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application September 19, 1952, Serial No. 310,496

1 Claim. (Cl. 215-53) This invention appertains to bottle stoppers of the general type shown in my prior Patents No. 2,292,149; No. 2,315,538 and No. 2,347,835 issued respectively on August 4, 1942; April 6, 1943, and May 2, 1944, and more particularly to an improved stopper for vacuum bottles having mouth or neck openings of relatively large diameter.

In vacuum bottles of the type having large neck openings, difl'iculty has been encountered in obtaining a perfeet seal upon radial expansion of the stopper body.

It is therefore one of the primary objects of my invention to provide a stopper which can be easily placed in and removed from the neck of a bottle in its contracted form and which will effectively seal the neck in its expanded form.

Another salient object of my present invention is to provide a stopper having an elongated compressible resilient stopper body of a greater length than the bottle neck, so that the compressible body will extend into the bottle below the neck, with novel means for forming the interior of the body in such a manner that the body will be insured of uniform bulging radially outward to grip and seal the interior of the bottle directly below the neck opening upon compression of the body longitudinally.

Another important object of my invention is the provision of novel means for forming the bottom wall of a hollow compressible resilient stopper body, so that upon compression of the body longitudinally, the bottom wall will be forced into the hollow body and aga'mst the inner face of the body at its lower end thereof for forcing out the lower end of the body radially into sealing engagement with the bottle shoulder below the bottle neck.

A further important object of my invention is the provision of a novel stopper body constructed of compressible material and so-formed that upon longitudinal compression of the body, portions of the body will be forced into intimate sealing contact with the lip of the neck and the shoulder of the body below the neck.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing,

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view showing my improved stopper inserted in the neck of a vacuum bottle and prior to the final compression of the stopper body longitudinally, the section being taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing the ;cam lever swung down to its operative position and the final compression of the stopper body longitudinally, the view illustrating the shoulder and lip seal.

Figure 3 isa top plan view showing my stopper inserted in a vacuum bottle and prior to the swinging down of the cam lever to its operative position.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a detail longitudinal sectional view through the resilient compressible body.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter S generally designates my improved stopper and the same includes a bottom cone plate 10 and a top compression plate 11. Confined between the cone plate 10 and the top compression plate 11, is the compressible body member 12, which can be formed from rubber or similar resilient compressible material.

The body member 12 is of a hollow form and embodies a tapered cylindrical side wall 13 and a bottom wall 14. The bottom wall 14 is provided with an axial opening 15 for a purpose which will later appear. The outer surface of the side wall 13, at least for a portion of its length, is provide-d with equidistantly spaced annular compressible ribs 16. The upper edge of the side wall 13 is provided with an outstanding annular flange 17, the lower face of which is tapered inwardly, as at 18. Particular attention is directed to the construction of the bottom wall 14, which forms an important feature of the present invention. The inner face of the bottom wall 14 is provided with an axially disposed cone shaped enlargement or boss 19 and the tapered face of the boss extends downwardly and inwardly toward the lower inner end of the side wall 13.

The bottom plate 10 has riveted to its axial center an upstanding threaded stem 20, which extends through the opening 15 formed in the bottom wall 14 and slidably mounted through the axial center of the top compression plate 11 is a sleeve nut 21 which receives the threaded stem 20. Pivoted to the upper end of the sleeve nut 21 is the operating cam lever 22. As is best shown in Figures l and 2, the top compression plate 11 is formed with a central depressed portion 23 against which the throw of the cam lever presses, and this depressed portion 23 is received within the upper portion of the hollow body member 12. This depressed portion also forms a seat for the upper surface of the body member 12, and it is to be noted that the plate 11 has a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the upper end of the stopper.

The cone plate 10 abuts against the lower surface of the wall 14 of the stopper member 12, and this cone plate has formed on its peripheral edge an outwardly extending flange 24 on which is seated the edge of the lower end of the stopper member 12.

In use of the stopper, the parts are assembled as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and by turning the sleeve nut 21, a slight initial longitudinal compression of the stopper member 12 can be had, as shown in Figure l of the drawing. In this position, the stopper can be readily moved into or out of the neck of a bottle; but this initial adjustment carries the cone portion of the cone plate 10 against the bottom wall 14 moving the cone shaped boss 19 into the hollow body and the tapered surface of the cone shaped boss 19 will then extend directly to the inner surface of the side wall 13.

As set forth in the objects of this specification, the stopper has been particularly designed for use with vacuum bottles having a mouth of a relatively large size, and this type of vacuum bottle is indicated generally by the reference character B. As shown, the bottle B below the neck 25 is provided with an interior shoulder 26 and the stopper is formed of a sufficient length so that said stopper will extend into the neck 25 below the shoulder 26.

After the insertion of the stopper within the neck 25 as shown in Figure 1, the sleeve 21 can be slightly turned so as to compress the body member 12 longitudinally, after which the cam lever 22 is swung down to a position shown in Figure 2, at which time the bottle and upper Plates-11 and" 12 will be brought forcibly toward one another to bring about desired longitudinal compressionofthe-body -member 12. At-.-,this time, the cone shaped boss' 19 will be further moved into the body member.12'functioning toinsure the radial outward bulging ofathe stopper body member 12 into sealing engagement with the shoulder 26 f the bottle. With this outward bulging of the lower end of the stopper member 12, the annular flange 17 will be brought into intimate sealing contact with the lip of the neck 25 of the bottle. Thus, not onlywill the wall of the body member 12 intimately engage the inner surface of the neck 25, but the body member and -its flange 17 will effectively seal against the lip of the neck and the shoulder 26 of the body.

Changes in details may be made without departing from thespirit or the scope-of this invention, but what I claimas new is:

Ina stopper for bottles, an elongated hollow compressible body member of .a longer longitudinal length than the neck of the bottle including a cylindrical side wall anda bottom wall, said bottom wall having an interior cone shaped boss extending toward the side wall, an annular flange formed on the upperwend of the stopper member adapted to intimately engage the lip of a bottle, a bottom cone plate engaging the lower wall with the cone portion of theplate rnovable toward the axial center of the body, said bottom cone plate having an annular seat extending beyond the conical portion of said plate and the inner periphery of the side Wall of the body member, an axially disposed threaded stem on the center of the cone plate extending into the hollow body, a top compression plate engaging the upper surface of the body member, asleeve nut threaded on the stem and movable through the upper plate, and a cam lever pivoted to the upper end of the sleeve nut for engaging the'upper plate, the conical boss being movable bodily into the body member upon longitudinal compression thereof for bulging out the lower end of the body member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1, 047 'Hand Dec. 20,1881 2,292,149 Moeller Aug. 4, 1942 2,292,726 Trippensee Aug. 11, 1942 2,347,835 Moeller May 2,. 1944 2,439,628 Kopecky Apr. 13, 1948 2,444,779 Krasberg July 6, 1948 2,566,816 Work Sept. 4, 1951 

